Loose leaf binder



April 2, 1935. (5. H. DAWSON El AL LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Oct. 9, 1953 Z7 F/G. 5

25 6/4 020 1 .YVE N TOR.

GEORGE H. DA WJON PAUL 0. U/VGEQ A TTORXEY,

Patented Apr. 2, 11935 LOOSE LEAF BINDER George H. DawsomOhicago, and Paul 0. Unger',

Glen Ellyn, 11., assignors to Wilson-J ones Com-o pany, Chicago,- Ill., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 9,

14 Claims.

' This invention relates to a loose leaf binder, and more particularly to means for opening, closing and interlocking the sheet retaining prongs. g

It is an object of this invention to provide a lever that will open or close the prongs of a loose leaf binder with a minimum of efiortl and will securely interlock the prongs in closed po.-

sition to prevent accidental opening. It is afur the! object of this invention to provide a lever that will always be in operative position. It is a further object of this invention to provide means for minimizing the vertical travel of the finger piece of the lever without reducing the efiective leverage of the mechanism. Other objects of this invention willbecome apparent upon reading the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a loose leaf binder embodying our invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, showing the lever in closed position; s

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the lever in open position;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the lever in closed position; and

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modified embodiment-of the lever in open In the drawing the reference numeral indidates a back member to which cover members of buttons 7.

A plurality of sheet retaining prongs 8 are secured to the toggle plates 6 in any suitable manner. As shown in the drawing, the prongs are preferably of the divided ring type which are arranged so that each prong on one plate meets a prong on the other plate at its outer extremity to form a ring which may be opened or closed by movement of the toggle plates. It will be understood that other types of prongs may be substituted for the divided ring prongs. The prongs 3 are adapted toretain a plurality of sheets 9 impaled thereon. A cover plate l8 has its longitudinal edges curved, as indicated at H, to embrace the longitudinal edges 5 of the backplate; The cover plate is provided with a 1933, Serial No; 692,748

plurality ofnotches I2 adjacent its edges to permit the prongs 8 to pass therethrough.

A supporting member I3 is secured to theback member 2 in any suitable manner. 7 As shown in Figure 4, the back member is preferably provided with a threaded aperture and the end of the supporting member is threaded to fit therein, as indicated at Hi. The supporting member [3 is provided with an upper headed portion 15 which is apertured. transversely to receive a pin it. The-toggle plates 6 are notched at their inner edges to form an aperture through which the supporting member l3 extends. The supporting member also extends through a' large aperture H in the cover plate." I t A lever I8 is pivotally secured to the supporting member l3 by means of the 'pin it. The lever has a finger piece wand cam portions" 28. The finger piece i9 is shaped to conform with the contour of the end portion ofthe'cover plate H). The cam portions of the levers are rounded and are so shaped that when the lever is inclosed position the centers of the cam portions are on the opposite side of the pivot point it from the finger piece l9. Accordingly, any pressure brought against the prongs to open them when the lever is in locked position will tend to force the camportions ever farther to the right (as viewed in Figure 4) of the pivot point [6 and the lever will hold theprong platesagainst opening movement; v p

The prong plates Bare provided with'shallow depressions 2| which are adapted to receive the rounded edges of the camportionsZU when the lever is in closed position. Each depression'is deep enough to prevent any possibility of the cam portions 29 of the lever slipping out of their locking position when the binder is jarred, as by dropping, and shallow enough to allow the cam portions tobe movedout of locking position by a slight lifting force applied to the-finger piece l9.

A link 22 having an inverted T-shaped end is secured to the lever' l8 between the pivot point land the finger piece l9 by means of a pin 23'. The toggle plates Bare notched to provide an aperture Z lthrough which the link 22 is adapted to extend. In the preferred embodiment the free end of the stirrup is split a short distance and the split portions are bent in opposite directions to form a pair oflugs 25. The lugs 25 or their equivalents are adapted to engage the meeting edges of the toggle plates t to'lift the same and openthe sheet retaining prongs 8 when the finger piece I 9' of the lever is lifted.

It is desirable to have as much leverage to open the prongs as is possible without interfering with the prongs. In order to prevent the cam portions 20 from wasting any of the available space, the toggle plates 6 each have a portion 26 pressed downwardly to form a depression into which the cam portions 20 move when the lever I8 is lifted. The depressed area is formed as an inclined runway which terminates a slight distance from the depression 2!. The cam portions 20 of the lever must each be moved over the crest between the two depressions before the toggle plates 6 can be moved from one position to the other. As shown in Figure 5, the cam portions 20 may be provided with a pair of rollers 21 adapted to contact with the prong plate 6. The advantage of this construction is that the lever works with less friction and the possibility of excessive wear on the contacting surfaces is elim-, inated.

The end of the lever opposite the finger piece I9 is provided with a bent over lug 28 which is adapted to positionone end of a coiled spring 29. Theback plate 4 is provided with a projection 30 on which the opposite end of the spring 29 is positioned. The coiled spring 29 exerts constant force against the end of the lever and holds it close to the cover plate l0 when the lever is in closed position. When the lever is in open position the'spring 29 is not strong enough to force the cam portions up the inclined runways 26 to closed position. Accordingly, the lever will stay in either open or closed position. Although the spring 29 is generally preferred because it eliminates anypossibility of rattling on the part of the mechanism,.it is not essential to the invention, and may be omitted without losing any substantialadvantages of our invention.

The interlocking of the prong carrying toggle plates by means of the cam portions of the lever isof particular advantage in the case of binders of large capacities, becausewhenever an ordinary loose leaf binder carries heavy contents a slight drop on the edge of the binder, as in the case when the binder is dropped in a desk drawer, is often sufiicient to force the prongs apart and cause the contents to be spilled.

While we have described a preferred embodiment of our invention in detail, it will be understood that the description thereof is illustrative rather than restrictive, as many details maybe modified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of our invention. Accordingly, we do not desire to be restricted to the exact construction described, except as limited by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a pluralityof sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a backplate, an upright supporting member secured to said back plate at a point spaced from one end thereof and projecting above said toggle plates, a lever, and means to pivotally secure said lever to said supporting member above said toggle plates, said lever being adapted to be lifted to move said prongs to open position and depressed to move said prongs to closed position.

2. In a loose leaf binder, a back plate, a pair of toggle plates embraced by said back plate, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a cover plateembracing the edges of said back plate, a supporting member secured to said back plate and projecting above said cover plate, and a lever pivotally secured to said supporting member above said cover plate, said lever being adapted to move said prongs to open or closed position.

3. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a lever having a pair of cam portions adapted to engage said toggle plates to move said prongs to closed position, and a link pivotally secured to said lever and adapted to engage the lower surface of said toggle plates to move said prongs to open position.

4. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a .plurality'of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a back plate, a supporting member secured to said back plate, a lever adapted to depress said toggle plates at their meeting edges, and a link depending from said lever and extending through a recess in said toggle plates, said link having an inverted T-shaped end adapted to lift said toggle plates at their meeting edges when said lever is lifted.

5. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a lever adapted to open said prongs, and means to prevent accidental opening 'of saidpro-ngs, said means including depressions in said toggle plates in which portions of said lever rest when saidprongs are in closed position.

6. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of togglefplates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a lever pivoted above said toggle plates and having cam portions adapted to depress said toggle plates to close said prongs, and depressions in said toggle plates beyond the pivot point of said lever, the cam portions of said lever lying in said depressions when said prongs are in closed position.

'7. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, and a lever pivoted above said toggle plates, said lever having cam portions engageable with said toggle plates to close said prongs when said lever is depressed, said cam portions being adapted to move through the plane in which said lever is pivoted after said prongs are closed to lock said prongs against accidental opening. 1

8. In a loose leaf binder, a pairof toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, portions of said toggle plates being depressed to form inclined runways, and a pivoted lever having cam portions adapted to move on said runways to close said sheet retaining prongs.

9. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a depressed area in each of said toggle plates forming at one end an inclined runway extending to the main body portion of its respective toggle plate, and a pivoted lever provided with rollers adapted to roll on said runway.

10. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, a lever pivoted above said toggle plates and having cam portions adapted to engage said toggle plates to depress them and thereby close said sheet retaining prongs, said cam portions extending beyond the center of the pivot when said prongs are closed, and depressions in said toggle plates into which said cam portions are moved when said sheet retaining prongs are closed.

11 In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to saidtoggle plates, a lever, a link depending from Cil said lever and engageable with said toggle plates to move said prongs to open position, means to lock said prongs in closed position against accidental opening, and means to maintain said first mentioned means in looking position until released therefrom by positive lifting force applied to said lever.

12. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a lever having cam portions adapted to depress said toggle plates, a depressed area in each of said toggle plates forming an inclined runway on which a cam portion moves, and a second depression spaced from the end of said inclined runway and adapted to receive said cam portion to prevent accidental displacement of said cam portion.

13. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, and a thumb operated lever pivoted above said toggle plates, said lever being engageable with the inner edges of said toggle plates to close said prongs when said lever is depressed, the point of contact of said lever with said toggle plates lying between the thumb end and the pivot point of said lever when the prongs are open and beyond the pivot point when the prongs are closed.

14. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of toggle plates, a plurality of sheet retaining prongs secured to said toggle plates, and a thumb operated lever pivoted above said toggle plates, said lever being engageable with the inner edges of said toggle plates to close said prongs when said lever is depressed, the prong closing movement of said lever causing the portion of said lever contacting with said toggle plates to move through the plane in which the lever is pivoted so that said prongs are locked against accidental opening when said lever is depressed.

GEORGE HJDAWSON, PAUL O. UNGER. 

